Since we are all curious to stay abreast of travel procedures during this time of heightened concern about a possible swine flu epidemic, I thought that it might be worthwhile to share a family member's report on arriving at PEK (Beijing Capital International Airport) earlier today.

"All passengers were funneled through a health check with temperature screening by thermography. There was a questionnaire to fill out that was similar to the old AIDS one, but they then gave EVERY traveler a brief interview asking where you had been in the past two weeks (USA wasn’t enough, they wanted to know cities) and getting a contact telephone number in case there was a reason to quarantine you. All done very nicely, but with only four lines it took about 30 minutes to get everyone through."

OK, that's it for a 'back on the ground' report. If you are headed to PEK, expect to spend more time on arrival formalities.

Thanks for this update. This is such a valuable part of this forum - reports on the ground!

I'd advise Americans and Mexicans not to visit China or Hong Kong at this time for a leisure trip. Not worth the trouble or potential trouble.

Why, do you have further information. It's not easy to just cancel a trip.

Because the responses from China and Hong Kong have been the most draconian among all nations in the world. Hong Kong is quarantining everybody who has been in the same hotel as the Mexican tourist, despite most people having no symptoms and the current flu not that virulent or lethal. They're searching all over the city to find a taxi driver who transport the guy.

And China basically is telling Mexicans not to come to China. Mexico in response is telling its citizen not to visit China. Chinese hotels are wary about all Mexican and US citizens staying in their property.

In short, it's close to paranoia. Of course if you have everything booked, I will suggest go ahead. But if something's only in the planning stage, I'll go somewhere else. I won't even fly through a Chinese airport or HKG, if there are alternatives.

marya,

If possible, when you receive further updates from your family, will you please post them. Thank you for what you have posted so far. We are still planning to leave in a few days for Hong Kong and China.

When we arrive, I will also try and post updates as to what we're experiencing.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and help.

Thanks so much.

Here's an article about Mexicans in China:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124137876507580987.html

Check this out. Definitely related to the H1N1 flu.

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t478763.htm

Twenty-five Canadian students from the Universite de Montreal who had travelled to China for language study have been quarantined since May 2nd in a hotel in Changchun in northeastern China. None showed symptoms of any kind on arrival, and I don't believe were even in contact with anyone who had been in Mexico. Apparently they are being confined for one week because they are from Canada where there are now over 100 cases of swine flu. China is entirely within its rights to take these measures, as extreme as they may be.

Images2,
I wish that I could be more helpful but I am not sure how. My traveler goes back and forth to China fairly often so his experience is not likely to offer the best barometer of what it is like now for tourists. If you want me to ask any particular questions of someone currently in Beijing, I am most happy to, but it will just provide 'color' rather than information that can usefully guide decision-making.

Sorry you have this added stress when preparing for departure -- it must be unnerving.

To clarify my earlier post about the students under quarantine. They got through PEK all right; they were taken aside and quarantined after their flight from Beijing to Changchun. None of them are sick yet, and they describe their situation as "dull but bearable." An official from the Canadian embassy was told that if he visited them, he'd be quarantined too. This situation, added to China's ban on pork from Alberta, shows the erratic and irrational nature of China's response to swine flu.

Now, if we look from China's standpoint. They indeed MAY have a reason to close their doors to visitors, especially N. American ones. Because a flu outbreak there, even a very non-lethal one for developed countries, may indeed kill thousands or tens of thousands.

So, if China really wants to close its doors, it's not without reasons. They just have to be honest about it and say "Sorry, we really don't want visitors at this time", and not these involuntary quarantine nonsense.

Arrival in hong kong was fast and easy. No problems. Jia hotel is wonderful!

Great to hear that all is going well. Thanks for reporting back. Have a wonderful time.

BEIJING — China has warned the country's battle against swine flu is "extremely grim" after infection levels spiked in some areas and a Beijing university student became the fourth person here to die of the virus.

"There is a surge in patients in many parts of China, some schools have experienced clusters of cases, and some areas have entered the flu season," China's State Council, or cabinet, said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

"In the coming period, the epidemic will continue to develop, and the prevention and control situation is extremely grim," the State Council, headed by Premier Wen Jiabao, said in the statement posted on a government website.

The warning came after a student at Beijing's Beihang University, the nation's top aeronautics and astronautics institution, died on Tuesday of the A(H1N1) virus, state media said, citing health authorities.

The unnamed student was one of more than 3,000 new university recruits participating in compulsory military drills, the official China Daily newspaper reported.

Some of these students last week started showing symptoms of flu, such as fever, and one of them was rushed to hospital on Monday and died the next day, according to a statement posted on the Beijing health bureau's website.

A total of 28 other students have tested positive for A(H1N1) flu, but all were in a stable condition late Wednesday.

"There is a long battle ahead as the city counters this year's flu infection," Fang Laiying, head of the Beijing health bureau, was quoted as saying by the China Daily.

"Near the New Year, the number of people who catch the flu... could reach 12,000 people per day. More than half of them could be infected with H1N1 influenza, and we have not reached peak time yet."

More than 6,000 residents in Beijing are contracting flu every day, the report said, citing hospital records.

"This is five times more than the same period last year, and half of these people are infected with H1N1 influenza," the report said.

More than 42,000 cases of swine flu had been reported in China as of Wednesday, according to health ministry figures.